a few of my favorite things

My little sister and I have been running together twice a week since August.  Being 12, I figured she would be too cool for me.  Luckily she loves the time we spend together just as much as I do.  Last Saturday, we ran the Jolly Jaunt, a 5k in Boston that raises money for the Special Olympics.  It's my favorite race because the runners dress up in holiday gear and wear jingle bells on their sneakers.  The course runs down Commonwealth Avenue and back, which makes for great views of all the outfits of the runners ahead and behind you (not to mention all the beautiful brownstones).

Since this was the first year my sister ran the Jolly Jaunt, naturally I had to make her a tutu to match mine.  I found a super easy, (almost) no sew tutorial here and a measurement guide here.  I say almost no sew because you need to sew the elastic together.  Have an irrational fear of needles and thread you say?  Use a hot glue gun.  Happy no sewing!

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thoughts while drinking my morning coffee

Well, it's almost Thanksgiving and that means the Christmas season is in full swing.  I'm not gonna lie.  I am that girl that frantically finds the radio station playing Christmas music right after Halloween.  (It's 96.1 if you're in the Boston area by the way.)

This year, my lil sister and I are planning to go shopping on Black Friday. For the first time.  We are so. excited.  We are going to the outlets where I'm sure it will be just as crazy as any Walmart.

Speaking of Black Friday, I was in the local Kmart yesterday checking out Christmas decorations.  (I am not really a Kmart shopper, but I noticed they had wreaths on sale for $6.99.  Target sells similar ones for $10 and I cannot resist a bargain.  Plus there's one right down the street.)  So there I was, checking out all the decorations when I came upon this what-I-thought-was-an-amazing-pre-Black-Friday deal!  I love these reindeer lawn decorations.  And they are HALF OFF!  Buttttt, then I went online to check out their sales for Black Friday.  And I discovered that they are going to be the same price next week....half off.  

WHATTTT?  

Wait a second.  

WHATTT????  

Then (it gets better) I noticed toys advertised as $15 "from 6-9am Black Friday only blah blah" but in the store they were already marked $15.  Is this going on everywhere?  Are the deals not really deals?  I can feel a conspiracy theory coming on....

On a more positive note, check out this ugly sweater....for a dog!  So awesome.  My family has had an ugly sweater 80's puff paint christmas sweatshirt party for years and this sweater would be perfect.  If only this came in super extra german shepherd size....

Final thought for all my fellow New Englanders:  tomorrow is going to be in the 50's!!  Perfect day to finish raking leaves or putting up Christmas lights before it gets too cold.

Enjoy the weekend everybody!!

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Gifts of Writing

Every December, I teach my poetry unit where we read and write poetry. We start small with couplets (How the Grinch Stole Christmas is an awesome book to use!) and then move to haikus, quatrains, free verse, shape, and acrostic. I find that December is the perfect month for this unit because the kids have a lot of freedom to take risks and have fun. They also get a chance to create a gift for someone special as their end-of-unit project: a poetry book!

After all the students were finished with their books, we wrapped them.  It was obvious that some had done this before and some hadn't!

This last one is my favorite! That is a wrap job only a mother could love. :)

Elf on a Shelf

The last few weeks, I have been struggling with behavior management. I have a tough group of kids that test the boundaries and my usual techniques haven't been working this year. So I decided to try the age-old parenting technique of positive reinforcement (and by that we all know I really mean bribing). Enter Elf on a Shelf.

Stewie, as we named him, arrived today from the North Pole. When the kids came in from their morning special, some opened their desks to find a surprise inside.

The kids still had not spotted Stewie on his shelf. But they joined me on the rug with their treats while we read the book. Afterward, they found him on a shelf. He had stolen a snack and the owner didn't even notice!

The kids were really into it. I'm talking, SUPER excited not to mention well-behaved. And what do you know? Everyone with a messy desk found time to clean it today!! Parents, I think you may have found something in this whole bribing thing. Why didn't I think of this sooner?